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Cebu Pacific Air is again looking at expanding in the Australia market by launching flights to Melbourne. Efforts in recent months to improve Cebu Pacific’s performance in Sydney, which was launched in 2014, are bearing fruit and the airline is confident with Melbourne it can stimulate further demand in the Philippines-Australia market.

The LCC initially added Melbourne to its network plan in 2015 after the Philippines and Australia forged an extended air services agreement. But Cebu Pacific subsequently decided to shelve plans to launch Melbourne, and has instead been using additional A330 capacity to expand in its domestic and regional international market.

Melbourne is now back on the agenda and is the next priority – leapfrogging Honolulu – for Cebu Pacific’s long haul operation. A new partnership with Melbourne-based Tigerair Australia is a key driver in making Manila-Melbourne a viable route, along with the anticipated rapid growth in Australian visitor numbers to the Philippines.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is planning more international growth over the next year or two with a focus on Australia, China, the US and potentially Europe. Nonstops for Brisbane and more capacity for Sydney are in the pipeline for Australia, while in the Chinese market PAL is looking to launch Chengdu.

In Europe PAL is considering adding a second European destination in 2018, with Frankfurt and Rome under consideration. PAL has already added capacity to Europe this year by upgrading its London Heathrow service to daily.

This is the second in a series of analysis reports on the Philippines market. The first report focused on PAL’s Middle East operation, which could be reduced in 2017 amid intensifying competition and weakening demand.